Erbium-doped YVO4 have been synthesized by means of a simple solution method having good photo activities under UV-like excitation for the water splitting half reactions. From the structural and morphological characterization it has been stated that the presence of Er3+ induces the promotion of luminescence. Moreover the incorporation of erbium clearly affects to the morphology YVO4 leading to 200 nm size well-defined spindle-like particles. The improved photocatalytic performance might be associated to a better electron-hole separation mechanism, probably due to the slight increase of band-gap value. The obtained photoactivities for H-2 and O-2 evolution reactions make this material a promising candidate for water splitting reactions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.